Synopsis: I picked this one up (and got it signed; woot!) at the most recent Kidlitosphere Conference in Wichita—somehow I missed it when it came out a few years ago, but I'm so glad I went back for it, because it's up there with my favorite A.S.... Read the rest of this post
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Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reviews, Bullying, Realistic Fiction, Guy Appeal, AF, Sibling Fiction, Add a tag
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: AF, Chosen family fiction, Reviews, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, MG, Realistic Fiction, Add a tag
Synopsis: Yes, look, I'm participating in a Thing, and that thing is Middle Grade Monday! When am I ever organized enough to do that? Today, evidently. Anyway, I recently read Newbery Award winner Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, who was one... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Bullying, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Realistic Fiction, Dystopian, Biracial, Add a tag
Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader! As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.Enjoy! One of the strengths of speculative fiction... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reviews, Diversity, Sisters, Realistic Fiction, AF, Sibling Fiction, Mothers & Daughters, Add a tag
This is one of the most gorgeous and effectivecovers I've seen. I love it.Synopsis: Clara and Hailey are twin sisters, and like a lot of sisters, they are closer than close one moment, but in the next, they get on each other's last nerve. Hailey is... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Problem Novels, Class and Identity in YA literature, Sibling Fiction, Mothers & Daughters, Sisters, Realistic Fiction, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!One of the things the kidlitosphere talked about a lot in the early days of the early 2000's was the preponderance of YA novels with ridiculously 1% families in them. Rare were the books where the kids... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Book News, Mystery, Happenings, Grief, Realistic Fiction, Dear Author, Class and Identity in YA literature, Chosen family fiction, Add a tag
It's Day 6 of the PASADENA blog tour!Bad things happen everywhere. Even in the land of sun and roses. When Jude's best friend is found dead in a swimming pool, her family calls it an accident. Her friends call it suicide. But Jude calls it what it... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reviews, Diversity, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Suspense, Problem Novels, AF, Psychological Thriller, Add a tag
Don't miss our interview with author Sherri Smith this Wednesday, as part of the Pasadena blog tour! Synopsis: "The thing I'm finally learning is that someone can be your best friend in the world, but you're not necessarily theirs." Pasadena. It's... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Realistic Fiction, Class and Identity in YA literature, Bullying, Classics, Ethnicity and YA Literature, Romance, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is a big deal for a lot of young readers, but many, many, many others consider death a happier alternative than committing to the famous 19th century novel. Enter the modern day... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Realistic Fiction, AF, Reviews, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Add a tag
I really like the cutout-look images on the cover, with the hidden animals...Synopsis: We don't necessarily review a ton of realistic MG fiction here (not as much Wonderland in the real world, I suppose) but it doesn't mean we aren't reading or... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Realistic Fiction, Problem Novels, Class and Identity in YA literature, Chosen family fiction, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!One of the uses of exploring new people, places, and things in fiction is to understand and normalize them. As I stated a few months back in my review of Marike Nijkamp's THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS, I struggle... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Class and Identity in YA literature, Bullying, Realistic Fiction, Problem Novels, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!I taught junior high/high school in a group home, just out of college. I was a coteacher who worked in a classroom with another teacher and an aide, mostly 1:1, since my students were at wildly varying... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Class and Identity in YA literature, Faith/Fiction, Chosen family fiction, Crossover, Realistic Fiction, Problem Novels, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!According to the PEW Research peeps, about 70% of people consider themselves religious in some fashion, whether through traditional Jewish, Muslim or Christian denominations or other neopagan practices... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Sisters, MG, Realistic Fiction, Magical Realism, Problem Novels, AF, Sibling Fiction, Tandem, Add a tag
This has been the summer of the monkeybrain - too much going on, too much we wanted to do and we're not going to get it done, because it's nearing the end of August. ::sigh:: One thing we didn't want to miss was talking about Kate Messner's latest... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Class and Identity in YA literature, Ethnicity and YA Literature, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Canadian, Biracial, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages! Mostly I'm not that big a fan of YA historical fiction that are set in modern history. Finding a novel set in the 70's or 80's feels weird, mainly because I've been alive during part of those years, and... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reviews, Diversity, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Realistic Fiction, Multicultural Fiction, AF, Mothers & Daughters, Add a tag
Synopsis: This surprisingly literary speculative fiction / friendship / family story is another welcome addition to the growing shelf of books about A) people of color, B) South Asians, and C) teens of mixed heritage. Tara Krishnan, the narrator, is... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Reading Teen (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Romance, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary YA, 4 Pieces, Review my ARCs, Review My Books Reviews, Reviews: Jackie, Add a tag
Review by Jackie... OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS By Krystal Sutherland Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: G.P. Putnam (September 6, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon John Green meets Rainbow Rowell in this irresistible story of first love, broken hearts, and the golden seams that put them back together again. Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Bullying, Mental Health, Realistic Fiction, Problem Novels, Class and Identity in YA literature, Mothers & Daughters, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages! So, this book was agonizing. Yeah, that's really the only word, agonizing. As the title suggests, the storyline features a lot of angst, and I read it with a rock in my stomach. I approached this novel... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Reading Teen (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary YA, Review my ARCs, 2 pieces, Reviews: Sara, GBLT, Add a tag
Review by Sara... FRANNIE AND TRU By Karen Hattrup Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: HarperTeen (May 31, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon When Frannie Little eavesdrops on her parents fighting she discovers that her cousin Truman is gay, and his parents are so upset they are sending him to live with her family for the summer. At least, that’s what she thinks the story is. . .
Blog: Reading Teen (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Review my ARCs, Review My Books Reviews, 2 pieces, 1 piece, Reviews: Sara, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary YA, Add a tag
Review by Sara... THE FALL OF BUTTERFLIES By Andrea Portes Hardcover: 386 pages Publisher: Harper Teen (May 10, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon Willa Parker, 646th and least popular resident of What Cheer, Iowa, is headed east to start a new life.Did she choose this new life? No, because that would be too easy—and nothing in Willa’s life is easy. It’s her famous genius
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Multicultural Fiction, Views, TSD Review, Add a tag
Literature trends toward patterns or themes which repeat -- sometimes because that's just what happens to hit the market at a given time, and other times it's the current zeitgeist and an active interest which people are seeking to promote.... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Mental Health, Realistic Fiction, TSD Review, Chosen family fiction, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!Once, long ago, I used to watch Daria and then get RIGHT online to talk about it. Though I didn't write stories or draw pictures about it, I had favorite characters and discussions with people all across... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Mental Health, Romance, Sisters, Realistic Fiction, TSD Review, Mothers & Daughters, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!It's National Mental Health month, and I've been looking for books which fit the theme. While this book has a great many negatives for me, not the least because there is an unethical relationship with an... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Realistic Fiction, Multicultural Fiction, Class and Identity in YA literature, Faith/Fiction, TSD Review, Chosen family fiction, Bullying, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages! Synopsis: Nola Chambers is a reminder that her family wasn't always the golden-skinned, fair-haired folk who can stand proud and nearly-white in their village of Redding. Nola reminds her father that... Read the rest of this post
Blog: YA Books and More (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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2016, Little Brown and Company
It all started with a paperback book...
Nanette is the kind of student and child every parent would love to have. She will be getting a full ride scholarship for soccer, has decent grades, and doesn't party. But sometimes maintaining perfection is just waiting to break and all it takes is a catalyst. In Nanette's case, it was the book The Bubblegum Reaper.
The story is a novel about love, bullies, secret conversations, prom, and a turtle named Unproductive Ted. But what intrigues Nanette the most is the open ending, which is driving her crazy. She finds out the author doesn't live far from the high school, so one day she decides to visit him.
Booker meets Nanette for the first time and tells her point blank he doesn't want to discuss the book. He feels the novel is a part of his past, and one that he'd rather not go back to in memory or action. Having only been published in paperback, Booker yanked publication after one year and that was that. Now, Nanette has two very serious problems...the question about what happens to the main character and why Booker seems to not like his own novel.
One good thing does come out of it. Booker decides it's time for Nanette to meet Alex. Alex has been writing Booker for quite awhile after reading his book, and Booker believes the two would make the perfect match. On the evening they meet, Nanette and Alex go right into long conversations about the book, but not really substantial relationally. But with time, things change.
Alex and Nanette's relationship begins to change in many different ways. She meets Oliver for the first time. Alex and Oliver have a symbiotic relationship. Oliver has a friend, and Alex keeps Oliver safe from bullies. But Nanette sees something dangerous in Alex, which comes to a full head where her feelings become reality and Alex is sent away.
Alex isn't the only one that's changed either. Nanette is confused, and not sure who she is or what she wants to do either. She quits soccer, so her scholarship chances dry up, and throws caution to the wind by cursing at her parents and partying with her old friends. She doesn't know if she should be the happy one or make others around her happy....and her life falls apart.
A story within a story. Young people and old people. Bullies and saviors. This novel is a mix of opposites, which is the essence of what makes it so good. Matthew Quick delivers yet another novel that spans readers from young adult to adult. The parallels the characters draw from the book and the path it leads them down is the hook that the reader will relish, as well as the personal mysteries that may never be solved. This book may well become the partner of the paperback in this novel, where there is truth to be found and wisdom that needs to be highlighed. Absolutely delightful!!
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reviews, Wicked Cool Overlooked Books, Realistic Fiction, TSD Review, Under Radar Reading Recommendations, Add a tag
Welcome to the first Monday of the month, and another episode of Wicked Cool Overlooked Books! I completely missed September somehow -- but I'm back! In honor of Beverly Cleary's 36,526th day on Earth (we have to count the Leap Years, people, come... Read the rest of this post
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